Back in November in this space I noted that Elon Musk’s Starlink project was soliciting Canadian beta testing applicants for its satellite-to-Earth internet delivery system. I cautioned readers at the time that this service was likely not going to magically lower internet costs and allow typical readers to escape the perceived tyranny of the major telcos in Canada.
Now that beta testing is indeed under way here” in Canada, some in the Fraser Valley and some in B.C.’s Interior, it is worth recapping that Starlink is not an attack on the established service providers.
Those providers, chiefly Bell, Shaw, Telus, and Rogers, serve rural areas reluctantly and must occasionally be prodded by the federal government. Sadly, they in turn push back when Ottawa tries the collusion card on high prices for mobility and internet service by threatening to withhold expansion into, say, the far north. Some would say the companies are a classic example of a cartel.
It is from those rural areas that the demand for Starlink’s internet service, even as a paid beta service, appears to be strong. If you are a Telus or Shaw customer in the Vancouver area grumbling about poor service or spiralling subscription costs, Starlink certainly isn’t for you. Upfront cost for participation in Starlink’s “Better than Nothing” beta is a few pennies under $800. That comprises the one-time hardware cost for the sophisticated antenna and receiver ($650) and the first month’s service ($130). Figures are in Canadian dollars.
Former colleague Quentin Paras who lives in Maple Ridge received an invitation to sign up. He considered it, but here’s his thinking on ultimately not participating.
“I am really intrigued by Starlink and the service they provide. I am also aware that they are in the beta stages of their operations and that the service they provide could be intermittent. When it came down to making a decision between keeping my existing cable connection and transitioning to Starlink, there were too many sacrifices that I would need to make to try this new service. Sacrifices like cost, connectivity, and speed. The main deciding factor was that I wanted a continuous connection so that I could continue to operate all my online services; services like my Wi-Fi security system or all my smart devices. My current plan boasts 600 Mbps which supports these services without issue, so I felt there was no need to switch.”
Indeed, that makes sense. He’s in an area well-served by two major telcos. Unless Starlink was to undercut the typical telco rate of around $100 a month for high performance internet service, it will not be a threat in cities.
What we do know now after a couple of months of beta testing in Canada is that the service is actually performing better than promised. Typical metrics being posted from testers show up to 200 Mbps down, around 25 Mbps up, with a latency 20 ms. Musk says all three metrics will improve as more satellites come online. Currently Starlink has around 1,000 satellites in orbit and is adding 64 or so every few weeks. There is little reference to interruption in service.
Those numbers are music to the ears of Matt Ion, a member of a Facebook group devoted to amateur radio.
“Our only (internet) options at our cabin (in B.C.’s remote Interior) right now are Xplornet at 10 Mbps down / 1 Mbps up for around $100 a month, or the single Telus (cell) tower, which is overloaded and brutally slow, where we can sometimes get two bars with a $700 whole-home booster.
“Starlink would pretty much mean we could sell the house in Abbotsford, move to the Cariboo, and both keep working from home, while losing the mortgage payments.”
Exactly the sort of customer Starlink has in mind. Charlie Denbigh from the same group has similar thinking. “Starlink is going to change a lot, for a lot of people. We possibly would have bought a house out of town if Starlink was a thing when we were looking. The need for reliable and fast internet service when working from home was a big part of the decision.”
Another member, Michael Kennedy, makes this observation. “I manage a bunch of backcountry huts. Right now, one of them has an LTE booster and an LTE modem-powered Wi-Fi router. We are paying a king’s ransom for data service over it. I’ve signed up for Starlink. Should be a lot of cost savings in the long run.”
A fourth member of the same discussion thread sees Starlink pricing as highly viable.
“$800 is a small up-front price to pay for a high bandwidth, low latency satellite service. Xplornet is slow, highly latent, and low throughput 20+ year-old technology. It’s like comparing apples to oranges.”
Figure on Starlink rapidly building up its customer base in remote parts of Canada, and eventually across the world as those thousand or so satellites become closer to 10,000 and, eventually 40,000 or more.
Class Action Suit Against Microsoft
Need a little extra cash, almost no questions asked? Join the payout from one of Canada’s larger class-action suits, where the courts agreed that there had been a conspiracy by Microsoft and its Canadian subsidiary to illegally raise prices for products such as Windows and Office (or its standalone components), from 1998 through 2010. Around $400 million will be paid to claimants who file through ThatSuiteMoney.ca. Figure on around $25 for a basic one-computer claim, no receipt required. As is typical in these cases, the company, Microsoft, agrees to the settlement but denies wrongdoing or liability.
Sign of the Times
Retail giant Costco says it is closing its in-store photo printing business, along with such services as passport photos and inkjet printer cartridge refills, effective Feb. 14. Here’s part of the announcement:
“Since the introduction of camera phones and social media, the need for printing photos has steeply declined, even though the number of pictures taken continues to grow. After careful consideration, we have determined the continued decline of prints no longer requires on-site photo printing.”
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